Road Repair and Accountability Act

Newly inaugurated California Gov. Gavin Newsom made waves on Thursday in his budget address, threatening cities and counties with the possibility of losing a portion of their gas tax subventions if they fail to meet their state housing requirements.

What's the best way to ensure that electric vehicle drivers pay to maintain the roads they drive on, considering they don't pay fuel taxes? A new report from the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies was sent to the California legislature.

The day after California voters soundly rejected a repeal of a one-year old 12-cents gas tax increase and new annual vehicle registration fees. the Riverside County Transportation Commission launched a study to extend toll lanes on Interstate 15.

In potentially the most important transportation ballot measure in the state since 1990, the last time residents voted on the gas tax, Californians were deciding whether to repeal fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees approved last year.

Repeal proponents have already planned a sequel for Proposition 6, regardless of whether the measure passes, resulting in the loss of over $5 billion annually from new transportation user fees, including a 12-cents per gallon gas tax increase.

The initiative is much more than whether to repeal taxes and fees enacted by the passage of the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 which brings in over $5 billion a year. The measure is a means to increase GOP turnout to retain House seats.

It's not looking good for transportation advocates who want to retain over $5 billion in annual transportation funding made possible the passage of a bill last year that enabled the first gas tax increase in California since 1994.

Two difficult votes last year, both requiring super-majorities, are paying huge dividends to 28 transformative projects throughout the Golden State to improve rail and transit service and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

One of two initiatives to repeal last November's 12-cents per gallon gas tax increase failed to attract enough signatures by the Jan. 8 deadline. However, the other initiative has major backing and will likely appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

According to a UC Berkeley poll released Dec. 22, 52% of likely voters statewide would support either of two initiatives that hope to be placed on the ballot next November to repeal the gas tax that took effect Nov. 1, while 43% would retain the tax.

On Nov. 1, fuel taxes increased for the first time in 23 years in California. Next November, Californians will likely decide whether to return those taxes to 1994 levels, as well as repeal other tax and fee hikes passed by the legislature in April.

Chances for a repeal of California's 12-cents gas tax increase have doubled in that two measures aim to qualify for the November 2018 ballot. The initiatives are opposed by the state's major business groups that usually side with Republican causes.

The effort to repeal tax and fee increases resulting from the state's first successful gas tax legislation in 28* years received great news from a Sacramento superior court judge who tossed the attorney general's misleading title for their measure.

There's a reason it can take decades to increase gas taxes — and many California legislators may soon found out why in November 2018, if not earlier. On November 1 of this year, state gas taxes will increase 12 cents per gallon.

After several years, Sen. Jim Beall's persistent efforts to address the state's $130 billion road and bridge shortfall finally passed the legislature, but Assemblyman Travis Allen hopes to repeal the 12-cent tax hike through the initiative process.

Come November 1, gasoline and diesel taxes will increase by 12 and 20 cents per gallon, respectively, in California, providing badly needed revenue to repair roads, bridges, and improve transit, but truck pollution loophole will still foul the air.

The gas tax bill couldn't pass soon enough for the Bay Area's metro system. Service cuts and fare increases, scheduled for approval April 13, were greatly reduced due to an unexpected $16 million BART will receive, and the bill has yet to be signed!

An old wound is mitigated thanks to two Democratic legislators from Riverside County who made it clear from the onset what it would take for them to sign-on to the Road Repair and Accountability Act, California's historic fuel tax and fee increase.

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